I think the reason I hate Sports talk Radio shows is that there is absolutely no accountability on the part of the callers.  With rare exceptions, most callers get real mouthy, talk a lot of smack and then disappear back into anonymity.  Would the same people be so vocal if they knew they’d be called back in 2 months to answer for their statements?

 

That is probably what made me so exasperated yesterday while reading what I perceived as a flood of whining and sniveling on Matt Cerrone’s Metsblog from Met fans.  If you are  a fan that is ready to concede post-season victory or are convinced that Omar Minaya really didn't know what he was doing out there, fine.  Just be ready to stand by these statements come October.

 

I like the outlet of this blog because it holds me accountable.  Itforces me to see how wrong I was about some of my statements (Endy/Valentin or Lima for example) and to take pat myself on the back for others (Franco helping Beltran or the re-emergence of Julio) .  Today, I want to hold some of the people, who publicly voiced their opinions loudest, up to the same standard that I hold myself to.  Lets both look at our statements at the end of the year and see who was right.

 

So what did people have to say yestaerday? 

 

There were some that thought we don’t stand a chance of winning it all:

 

“…we were already a starting pitcher or two away from any realistic chance at winning the WS”

 

“…we dont go anywhere without linebrink or sanchez, man what the hell happened?”

 

“…but kiss all WS aspirations goodbye”

 

“…this is awful. our bullpen sucks now. our offense isnt as good, and our starters are still the same. world series my ass....”

---and (the same guy  said) ---

“do you honestly think we're gonna go anywhere?

 

 

Others hated the Nady trade:

 

“…a god-awful trade. I can't see how anyone who does not have their head planted firmly up their ass can defend this deal. Hernandez is terrible…”

 

“Then Minaya PANICS and deals Nady for two pieces of absolute crap”

 

                “…terrible trade. this is a step back. yes they replace sanchez but not with a

quality reliever. They thin out their talent in outfield and get a terrible starter”

---and (the same guy  said) ---

“…This trade weakens the lineup and dimishes the outfield depth”

 

 

 

And that Milledge isn’t ready

 

“And let's get to Millege.....he's nowhere close to ready to contribute to a major league ballclub”

 

“… Millege has to come up and start for a pennant contender, even though he has not shown at all that he's ready…”

 

“…This means we are going to have to get used to milledge's bad at-bats and mistakes in the OF.”

 

 

 

So, here, are my thoughts - on the record:

·          Losing Duaner sucked, badly, but it wasn’t Omar’s fault.  Making the blanket statement that we are worse off ending the day that how we started it is judging something that is beyond the GMs control.  Clearly we all prefer Sanchez to Bert, and clearly If he could have gotten Linebrink (and if Linebrink doesn’t have a sore arm), it would have been a huge coup,  but I think Omar did pretty well under the adverse circumstances.

·          Nady was expendable.  Having Milledge and Endy get his minutes is addition-by-subtraction.

·         The upside of Perez could be exciting.  He has shown signs of brilliance.  Give Peterson a few weeks with him.  Even if he never pitches a day in the Majors, Nady for Bert on a tough day for the pen is in no way a disaster.

·          Omar will be remembered for the deals he didn’t make today.  When Milledge and Gomez start to shine and the young guns like Pelfrey, Bannister and Maine are making big contributions you will be thanking Omar for not panicking.

·         Endy is a better day-to-day player than Nady.  I would rather have him up in an important situation than X-man any day of the week.  He is also faster and has a better arm.

·          I think Milledge is good.  Very good.  I think he is major league ready and with sharing minutes w/Endy will be just what the doctor ordered.  A Chavez/Miledge platoon, with important AB’s in the homestretch will give Lastings the seasoning he needs to grow.  And bonus points to Omar for having brought him up earlier and given him taste of the bigs before crunch time.

·          El Duque has shut me up for the moment.  I can see him helping in important games.

·          It would have been great to get an Oswalt or Schmidt or Willis but we are not so bad off with the cards we’ve been dealt.  We have enough good arms in Maine, Pelfrey, Bannister, Owens, Ring, Lindstrom and Hernandez to craft the 5th Starter and bullpen-fortifier we’ve been looking for.

·          Heilman is a good pitcher.  The haters will be apologizing. 

 

 

I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to an opinion.   My friend Will will tell you we disagree on almost everything Met-related.  I invite any of the people that posted comments I mentioned on Matt Cerrone’s blog today, or who disagree with me to tell me so.   I only ask that you put your credibility where your mouth is.  Stand behind your rhetoric. 

 

 

 

Maybe when the smoke clears all the people I called whiners will prove me an a-hole for calling them out, and I will owe them an apology and some well deserved credit.  I hope not.

 

I have left the comments anonymous, and will be happy to remove anyone’s statement that doesn’t want it here, but do bear in mind, you did put your thoughts in print, on public record, for thousands and thousands of people to see yesterday, which has an implication to me that you want your opinions known and in the public eye.